DART Rate: Calculating DART the Easy Way (And Why It Matters)

When evaluating the effectiveness of your environmental, health, and safety (EHS) program, many companies focus on days away from work due to workplace injuries. But this metric only tells part of the story. To get a complete picture of how incidents impact operations, safety professionals turn to a more comprehensive OSHA metric: the DART rate.

What Does DART Stand For?

DART stands for Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred—a key OSHA metric that captures the full operational impact of work-related injuries and illnesses. Instead of only tracking absences, the DART rate includes:

• Days Away from Work due to an injury or illness
• Days of Restricted Duty, where the employee cannot perform their regular tasks
• Days of Job Transfer, where the employee must be reassigned due to their condition

Together, these three factors provide a more complete view of workplace safety and its effect on productivity.

Why DART Rate Is a Critical EHS Metric

Your organization may already be tracking recordable incidents and lost workdays, but DART goes further by accounting for indirect disruptions, like limited-duty assignments or temporary transfers.

This broader view helps:

• Identify hidden productivity losses
• Detect recurring safety issues
• Support proactive hazard mitigation
• Align leadership on safety priorities

For example, a worker returning to light-duty might not impact your “days away” metric, but the downstream effect on output, staffing, and morale can still be significant. DART helps quantify that.

How to Calculate Your DART Rate

To calculate your DART rate, use the following OSHA-approved formula:

DART Rate =
(Number of DART incidents × 200,000) ÷ Total employee hours worked

This calculation helps normalize data for companies of different sizes, making it easier to benchmark against industry standards.

DART Rate vs. TRIR: What’s the Difference?

The Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) measures all OSHA-recordable incidents. The DART rate, by contrast, focuses only on those that lead to time away, restricted work, or job transfers.

In a healthy safety program, your TRIR should be higher than your DART rate. If they’re the same, it could indicate that every single recordable incident is disrupting operations, which should raise concern.

Streamlining DART Tracking with EHS Software

Manually calculating DART from OSHA Form 300 can be time-consuming and error-prone. That’s why many organizations are turning to EHS management software to automate the process.

Benefits of using EHS software for DART include:

• Simplified data collection through standardized digital forms
• Mobile access for real-time incident reporting from the field
• Automated DART rate calculations—no spreadsheet math required
• Immediate visibility into trends and spikes in incident severity

With EHS software, safety teams get accurate, real-time data to quickly act on emerging risks before they become systemic problems.

Why Tracking DART Rate Helps You Reduce Risk

Your DART rate isn’t just a number—it’s a powerful tool for driving continuous improvement in workplace safety. Monitoring this metric regularly helps leadership:

• Recognize underreported risks
• Allocate resources to high-risk areas
• Justify investments in safety improvements
• Demonstrate regulatory compliance

By integrating DART tracking into your broader EHS strategy, you’ll be better equipped to prevent incidents, boost performance, and protect your workforce.

Final Thoughts: Unlock Better Safety Insights with EHS Insight

At EHS Insight, our platform is built to help safety teams track, analyze, and act on key OSHA metrics like the DART rate. With real-time visibility and intuitive tools, we help you turn safety data into meaningful action—saving time, reducing risk, and improving outcomes.

Further reading: TRIR Calculation: How to Calculate Total Recordable Incident Rate